The Government is to order an investigation into the use of tanning booths with a view to introducing tougher regulations to deter people, particularly teenagers, from using them.

Incidences of skin cancer are rising more rapidly in Britain than any other form of the disease. Cases of malignant melanoma, the most dangerous kind, have doubled in 15 years, with almost 9,000 diagnosed annually, and close to 2,000 deaths.

The investigation will look at how many teenagers are using sunbeds, and whether the introduction of coin-operated booths and unsupervised salons means that so-called "tanorexics", people hooked on having a tan, are able to use the facilities with lethal regularity. Current guidance says under-16s should not be allowed to use the beds, but there are no laws backing the advice. In June, Zita Farrelly, 29, from Salford in Greater Manchester, died from skin cancer after using a sunbed twice daily from the age of 14.

Ministers will order the probe as they publish the Government's blueprint on cancer services which will admit that UK survival rates lag behind those in Europe. The Cancer Reform Strategy will also admit that Britain spends £80 per head on cancer care, compared with £121 in France and £143 in Germany.

A ban on cigarette vending machines and stronger health warnings on cigarette packets will be proposed to cut the number of lung cancer cases. The Government will also pledge £130 million investment in radiotherapy to support a new target that no one should wait longer than a month for the treatment by 2010. More than four million patients now wait more than a month.

The use of sunbeds has risen by more than a third in the last decade. Four out of five booths emitted ultraviolet radiation at levels above European and British standards, UK research showed in July, with the average unit carrying the same risk as midday Mediterranean sun.

Evidence has been reported that young skin is particularly vulnerable to sun damage. The World Health Organisation says under-18s should not use sunbeds, while a poll by the British Association of Dermatologists this week found 75 percent felt tanning booths should be banned outright. Gill Perkins, from the Sunbed Association, which represents a quarter of commercial sunbed operators, said her members, concerned by the rise in unstaffed booths, would welcome further industry regulation.